Thread: Could you, please..

Originally Posted by Chuvak

3. put off, prove, learn, aim (put off is the only "lazy" variant )
6. can't help, adore, refuse, carry on (everything else means something didn't happen...)

Though cookies... this is at least what I think on two of them...

Originally Posted by Chuvak

1. deny, practise, afford, suggest (afford ?)
2. offer, mention, risk, mind (mind ?)
3. put off, prove, learn, aim (?)
4. expect, happen, give up, tend (tend)
5. enjoy, endure, imagine, appear (?)
6. can't help, adore, refuse, carry on (?)
7. fancy, avoid, agree, postpone (?)
8. be busy, neglect, threaten, plan (be busy)

1. deny
2. risk
3. put off
4. give up
5. endure
6. adore
7. fancy
8. threaten

These are my guesses. I cannot explain why I chose them.

Originally Posted by kwatts59

Originally Posted by Chuvak

Thanks you, guys!

Originally Posted by basurero

Originally Posted by Chuvak

4.The disadvantage of his driving a car was that he didn't have a driver's licence

It's supposed to be in the past tense.

So, you think that the variant "The disadvantage of his driving a car was that he didn't have a driver's licence" sounds grammatically correct?
I suppose that it implies the same meaning as "When driving a car, the disadvantage of his was that he didn't have a driving licence", doesn't it?

"the disadvantage of his" is grammatically correct, but it sounds strange.
"his disadvantage" sounds better

When driving a car, his disadvantage was that he didn't have a driving license.

or

His disadvantage when driving a car was that he didn't have a driving license.

You haven't understood the sentence properly.

Here is a common phrase:
"You resent my being here"

"My being here" in this sentence is like "his driving a car" in Chuvak's, that is:

This sentence says "the disadvantage of his driving"
The disadvantage belongs to the driving of him. Not to him himself.

Originally Posted by Seventh-Monkey

I wouldn't be embarassed. I have no idea from a quick read. It's more of a logic thing than a language thing.

Yeah, exactly. Those are the type of questions that come up in MENSA tests anyway.

I'll have a go at explaining what I got after some thought.

1. deny, practise, afford, suggest
The rest are positive, you suggest something, practice it and afford it, when you deny it, you don't put the effort into it (sorry it's hard to explain that one).
2. offer, mention, risk, mind
You offer to do something, mention it and mind it
3. put off, prove, learn, aim
Again, the rest are positive towards doing something: Proving a difficult case, learning a difficult language, aiming to achieve a goal.
4. expect, happen, give up, tend
Something happens, something is expected to happen, something tends to happen.
5. enjoy, endure, imagine, appear
I can't really explain this one...
6. can't help, adore, refuse, carry on
The rest are choices,
Example: A project: Can't help with it, refuse to do it or carry on with it. Adore doesn't have anything to do with the fact it can/is wanted to be done or not.
7. fancy, avoid, agree, postpone
The rest are statuses of something.
For example: A meeting- You can avoid it, agree on things in it/agree to go to it, or it can be postponed to a later date.
8. be busy, neglect, threaten, plan
Again this is like a status.
Example: A project: It can be neglected, busy with or at a planning stage.

Feel free to dissagree with this.

They might be wrong but it should hopefully help with using a stragegy of grouping with examples so the odd one out can be found more easily.

Originally Posted by TATY

Originally Posted by kwatts59

Originally Posted by Chuvak

Thanks you, guys!

Originally Posted by basurero

Originally Posted by Chuvak

4.The disadvantage of his driving a car was that he didn't have a driver's licence

It's supposed to be in the past tense.

So, you think that the variant "The disadvantage of his driving a car was that he didn't have a driver's licence" sounds grammatically correct?
I suppose that it implies the same meaning as "When driving a car, the disadvantage of his was that he didn't have a driving licence", doesn't it?

"the disadvantage of his" is grammatically correct, but it sounds strange.
"his disadvantage" sounds better

When driving a car, his disadvantage was that he didn't have a driving license.

or

His disadvantage when driving a car was that he didn't have a driving license.

You haven't understood the sentence properly.

Here is a common phrase:
"You resent my being here"

"My being here" in this sentence is like "his driving a car" in Chuvak's, that is:

This sentence says "the disadvantage of his driving"
The disadvantage belongs to the driving of him. Not to him himself.

I see what you are saying. The disadvantage belongs to "his driving". So you can say:
"His driving disadvantage was that he did not have a driver's license."

The sentence still sounds strange.
I think Chuvak wanted to say
"The disadvantage of him driving was that he did not have a driver's license."

Originally Posted by волк

5. enjoy, endure, imagine, appear
I can't really explain this one...

Now that I think about it, "appear" is probably the correct answer.
"I enjoy", "I endure", "I imagine" are emotions but "I appear" is an action.

Thank you all, especially Волку for minute explanations for each item.

Honestly, I couldn't have finished such a test...

[quote=kwatts59]

Originally Posted by TATY

Originally Posted by kwatts59

Originally Posted by Chuvak

Thanks you, guys!

Originally Posted by basurero

Originally Posted by "Chuvak":2mmvpi07

4.The disadvantage of his driving a car was that he didn't have a driver's licence

It's supposed to be in the past tense.

So, you think that the variant "The disadvantage of his driving a car was that he didn't have a driver's licence" sounds grammatically correct?
I suppose that it implies the same meaning as "When driving a car, the disadvantage of his was that he didn't have a driving licence", doesn't it?

"the disadvantage of his" is grammatically correct, but it sounds strange.
"his disadvantage" sounds better

When driving a car, his disadvantage was that he didn't have a driving license.

or

His disadvantage when driving a car was that he didn't have a driving license.

You haven't understood the sentence properly.

Here is a common phrase:
"You resent my being here"

"My being here" in this sentence is like "his driving a car" in Chuvak's, that is:

This sentence says "the disadvantage of his driving"
The disadvantage belongs to the driving of him. Not to him himself.

I see what you are saying. The disadvantage belongs to "his driving". So you can say:
"His driving disadvantage was that he did not have a driver's license."

The sentence still sounds strange.
I think Chuvak wanted to say
"The disadvantage of him driving was that he did not have a driver's license."[/quote:2mmvpi07]

Maybe

"When it came to driving, his disadvantage was that he didn't have a license."

I don't think "driving" should be repeated, as it is bad style. It is obvious they are talking a driving license and not a fishing license.